Malachite green dye is widely used in dye industries, aquaculture industries and food industries. The prevalence of this malachite green in the effluent of wastewater could potentially harm human health and destroy the aquatic system. Hence, to completely destroy its presence in the effluent, a technique of integrated adsorption and photocatalytic degradation was introduced. Integrated photocatalyst adsorbent (IPCA) utilizing zinc oxide as photocatalyst and supported on activated carbon derived from melinjo shell, ZnO-AC was synthesized. Activated carbon derived from the melinjo shell provides a porous surface for adsorption while zinc oxide is sensitive to photons and enhances better light absorption. ZnO-AC was subjected to scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) characterization. The analysis revealed a porous sponge network and an intense peak of zinc oxide at 650-700 cm−1. The performance of ZnO-AC was evaluated by studying the effect of initial dye concentration (10-50 ppm), pH (2-11) and ZnO-AC dosage (5-25 mg) in the presence of UV light. In this study, the optimum conditions for dye degradation were found to be 10 ppm initial dye concentration, pH 11 and 15 mg ZnO-AC dosage. Kinetic behaviour of the dye degradation was also investigated. The photocatalytic degradation followed Langmuir-Hinshelwood model and the data corresponded well with pseudo-first-order kinetics.
Wood polymer composites (WPC) are gaining popularity and widespread usage due to an increased awareness of human population towards the importance of environmental effects and green eco-friendly materials. Mechanical properties of WPC could be improved through graft copolymerization of monomer onto wood fiber to improve interfacial bonding. In this study, a comparison of free radical graft copolymerization using microwave-assisted and conventional heating method was performed. Methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer is used in graft copolymerization of Meranti wood using a free radical initiator system consisting of ferrous sulfate and hydrogen peroxide. Grafting reaction time was varied while other graft parameters were kept constant including monomer concentration, initiator molar ratio, reaction temperature and solvent volume. Maximum graft yield of 11.75% and 10.17% were obtained for water bath heated and microwave-assisted method respectively. The presence of grafted monomer was proven by FTIR spectra analysis. Thermogravimetric analysis performed on grafted wood fibers showed improved thermal resistance compared to ungrafted wood fiber.
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